


Hearing and Understanding

by Chrysalin



Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Genre: F/M, Major Character Injury, Prison, scorned lover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 02:44:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19122973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrysalin/pseuds/Chrysalin
Summary: After hearing the Phantom has been captured, Christine goes to free him even as he tries to be selfless by pushing her away. Raoul shows up too.





	Hearing and Understanding

**Author's Note:**

> I'm copying my old works over from Fanfiction. I actually debated whether to bring some of them over, but most still have some merit even if I'm not really a fan anymore.

Word reached her that the elusive Phantom, the Opera Ghost who had tormented the Populaire for so long, had been captured and was in prison awaiting trial. She had talked to Madame Giry after the debacle at the opera house; Christine knew something had to be done.

Much to her fortune, the officers on duty had chosen to drink in celebration. She found them sprawled on the ground insensate, one with a dark bottle in hand. She shook her head and took a ring of keys from one guard’s belt before descending to the cells in the basement. 

Her strange angel was the only one there. As he came into view, she realized he was sitting on the cot with his back to the wall, eyes closed, dressed exactly as he had been when she had first seen him. He wore his white mask, but the other half of his face was decorated with several bruises and cuts. 

“What have they done to you?”

He didn’t move or look at her. “I was being difficult and they felt physical violence might resolve that. Indeed, one of the imbeciles, having attended that farce of my opera, realized hitting me here” – he tapped his finger against the mask just below his eye – “would be more effective.”

“I’m so sorry,” she murmured.

He shrugged elegantly. “There are worse things. They were at least gracious enough to allow me to maintain my mask.”

“Angel, I’m sorry,” she cried. “They would never have been able to find you if it had not been for me.”

“And out of guilt, you came to see me in my newest prison?”

“No!” she protested. “I would never come to… gloat. I came to free you.”

He finally opened his eyes. Their bright amber gleamed fierce and proud despite his incarceration. “Do not toy with me. You would not help me after what I did.”

Her gaze fell to the ground. “I should never have hurt you. It was my fault you reacted so badly. You do not belong behind bars, Angel.”

“I am no angel.”

“You’re my angel,” she said. “You taught and inspired me and made sure I wasn’t alone. You may have done some awful things, but people drove you to do so.”

“You have been speaking with Madame Giry.”

Christine nodded. “After that night, she told me what she could. If I had known…”

“I did not want you to remain out of pity or obligation,” he frowned. “My past is my own, and of no concern to you.”

She drew the keys from the pocket of her gown and began searching for the correct one. “Of course it is. You matter to me.”

He watched her cautiously. “You have your vicomte. I am of no importance.”

She met his gaze and recognized the barely-suppressed madness there. “Raoul and I… We could never be.”

“You love him.”

“As a child loves a dear friend,” she sighed. “Or a girl her brother. He never set me aflame or inspired me. He was little more than a link to my father.”

“You agreed to marry him.”

She wished he wouldn’t be so cryptic. “I thought I loved him. I did not understand then.” She heard the lock click as the door swung open and had to muffle an exclamation of surprise and happiness. “We should go.”

He remained perfectly still. “To what point and purpose?”

Christine stared at him, puzzled. “You do not want to stay here, do you?”

“I have nothing left out there.”

“You have your music,” she frowned.

The Phantom shook his head. “I have neither sung nor played since that night. There is no music left in my soul.”

“I can’t believe that,” she disagreed. “Angel of Music, hide no longer. Come to me, strange Angel!” she sang softly.

He ignored her, closing his eyes once more. “Music does not draw me anymore. Leave me be. I am not your Angel of Music.”

“I have nothing else to call you.”

“Ghost, phantom, monster?” he suggested dryly. “That is what all others call me.”

“No. What is your name?”

He let his mind travel back, searching for a name he had not heard in a very long time. “Erik. I was called Erik once.”

“Erik. Please, come with me. Do you have anywhere you can go?”

He nodded. “I have ways to return home. They sealed the entrances they know, so they assume I have no path. They did not realize that by sealing the known openings they would be unable to check, and I have cut those from my domain.”

“Then why stay here?” she demanded. “I know you despise being locked up. Don’t you want to leave?”

“Of course I want to leave!” he roared, leaping to his feet. “I would give anything to never be in a place like this again, but there is nothing for me in this world! They will see me dead for what I have done, and I welcome that!”

“How can there be nothing for you?” she asked with a worried frown, glancing at the entry and hoping his shouting hadn’t roused the guards. “I am here for you.”

“You are not mine,” he scoffed. “You abandoned me. You chose him.”

“Erik, I left him! I couldn’t possibly stay with Raoul, not with how I felt about you! Do you not understand?!”

He stalked closer, their faces centimeters apart. “Do not jest, Christine. I may not be so generous as to allow you to leave me a second time.”

“Then don’t,” she said calmly. “I came back because I love you, and I’m sorry it took me so long to understand. I should have realized the moment we came face to face.”

He didn’t let her continue, kissing her instead. There was love, passion, desperation. When he pulled back, his expression was wild. “If you mean to leave me again, do so this instant or I will not have the strength to allow it.”

“I’m not going to,” she promised. “It’s why I’m here, Erik. I finally know what I want.”

A bumping sound above drew the couple’s attention, and his composure returned. “We need to leave before they discover you are here,” he said coolly. “We will be able to talk more once we are somewhere safe.”

“Erik…”

He shook his head. “Our discussion can wait. We have to leave now.”

She nodded and moved to the door as he searched for his few belongings, quickly claiming them. He peered up the stairs after relocking his cell and drew her after him as he climbed without even a hint of rustling cloth or a scrape of shoes on the stone. She took care to move quietly as well, drawing on the grace born of years of Madame Giry’s dance lessons. Just before the door, he returned the keys to the guard.

“Let them think the mysterious Phantom escaped a locked prison,” he murmured as they stepped out.

Once in the streets he led her through back roads and dark alleys, all the while moving in the direction of the Populaire. Though the opera house had been closed, the vaults were all but unharmed by the fire that gutted the rest of the building. 

Ordering her to wait, he knocked on a few flagstones before heaving one to the side, revealing a spiral staircase underneath. The path led to the edge of the underground lake that surrounded his house. He pressed one of the levers in the wall and the candelabras rose from the water, bursting into flame. The sudden light revealed the small boat. Erik helped her in before pushing off from the miniature dock, making his way to his home. 

It seemed an eternity to Christine before they reached the main room. He closed the entryway, hiding them from sight. 

“Can we talk now?” she asked.

He nodded before taking a seat at his organ and shrugging off his cloak. His fingers rested on the ivory keys, but he could not think of a single note. “If that is what you desire.”

“I’m sorry, Erik. I never meant to hurt you, and I will never forgive myself for what I did during the opera. You did not deserve what happened to you.”

“It was your precious vicomte’s idea, I presume.”

She nodded. “He said it was the only way I could be free and we could be together. He never listened when I said I wanted nothing to do with his plan.”

“I cannot respect a man who would brazenly offer up the woman he claims to love as bait,” Erik said coldly. 

“I know,” she whispered. “Oh, I thought he was doing it for me like he said, but now… I think he just wanted to get rid of you because he knew I cared for you.”

“Do you?”

She blushed. “Yes… Is that strange? Raoul kept trying to tell me that I should be terrified of you, but I never was. I always thought you would do nothing to hurt me.”

“And I wouldn’t,” Erik replied. “Not intentionally, at least, though I am afraid my temper runs away with me at times. I spent years with you when there was no one else around and never did a thing. Why should you be frightened?”

“I thought you were an angel, with your beautiful voice, and you were always there for me. I guess the only time you frightened me was when…”

It took him a moment. “When Buquet fell from the flies. When you went to the roof with the man you claimed to love and begged him to protect you from me.”

“You were there?”

He nodded. “I saw you leave and followed. I heard everything.”

“I’m so sorry. I never should have doubted you.”

“Yet you came to me whenever I sang without hesitation, with no apparent thought for Monsieur le Vicomte.”

“When you sing… It’s all that exists. The rest of the world is gone, or just doesn’t matter. There was only you.”

He sighed and rose, pacing. His face throbbed, but there was little he could do to soothe it with the mask in place. His hand moved unthinkingly to the tender area. 

“If you need to take off your mask, it’s all right. It no longer bothers me.”

He managed a sardonic grin before vanishing into another room. When he returned, he held a small sack of ice. Slowly he eased the mask away from his disfiguration before applying it. She had a brief glimpse of bruising far worse than that marring the other side of his face. “I appreciate the concern, however misguided.”

She began to protest, but bowed her head instead. “I see it will take time to prove myself. I made a horrible mistake and now I have to pay the price.”

“If you remain here, you will never be free,” he warned. “I said that to you once before. Heed me better now than you did then.”

“I can’t escape from you. I never will. Maybe you should believe it now.”

“I do not believe that was the manner in which you originally meant it.”

“I didn’t understand then. Raoul didn’t know why I was drawn for you even after seeing what you were capable of.”

He opened a small chest and pulled out a few jars and bottles. It took her a moment to realize they were medicines. He tipped a few items into a shallow bowl before mixing them into a light paste, which he spread on a scrap of linen and placed over the scarring under his eye. He settled his mask on top of it a moment later. “I am capable of many things, a great deal of darkness. Do not misunderstand that.”

“You only did such things when pushed,” Christine protested. “You killed men who locked you in a cage, and Buquet was looking for you. You were defending yourself.”

“And when I kidnapped you?”

Her eyes dropped. “You knew about the soldiers in the theatre, and I had betrayed you. What other choice did you have?”

“You are too forgiving for your own good,” Erik decided as he opened a hidden cabinet and poured himself a snifter of brandy. He tilted the bottle in her direction as an offer, but she shook her head. “How long should I expect to wait before we hear the vicomte looking for you?”

“I don’t know if he cares,” she replied. “Yes, I left without speaking to him, but we had just discussed things and I told him I couldn’t marry him.”

“A spurned suitor is dangerous,” he reminded, leaning back in his seat. “A lesson you should have already learned. He does care for you, though if it is love or not I cannot say, for I have little experience with that emotion.”

“You think he will come here?”

“He may try. I long since removed any less thoroughly concealed entrances, though I shall inform Antoinette once the hunt for me has died down, or I may ask you to do so if you remain. If he does find a way in, I will escort him out and destroy that one as well.”

“He will want me to return with him,” she murmured. “I don’t want to go back.”

“I shall not force you to do anything you do not desire,” he promised.

“That certainly is new,” she said, a faint smile edging onto her face.

He shrugged. “I am trying to be noble. After all, it worked well enough for him and my previous behavior hardly produced the desired results, did they?”

“CHRISTINE! CHRISTINE?”

“Ah, speak of the Devil,” Erik said pleasantly as he sipped his drink. “I admit, he was much quicker on the uptake than I expected. I see I shall be destroying all old entrances and creating new ones instead. Was he following you?”

“I don’t hear anyone else,” Christine frowned as she chewed on her lower lip. “No police or anything.”

He nodded after listening for a moment. “Only one person, yes. Maybe he hopes to be able to reason with the monster, beg me to return you to him.”

“But… you didn’t take me.”

“I doubt he sees it that way. Monsieur le Vicomte convinced himself long ago that when you did things he considered inappropriate it was due to my influence, though how I may have persuaded you to rescue me from prison I know not.”

He rose and pressed the lever to open the gates, though he left the portcullis down. Raoul splashed in, looking like he had been drowned, and flattened himself against the iron grid work. “I see you fell into my water trap a second time, Monsieur le Vicomte.”

“Water trap?” she asked in a low tone.

“Let Christine go!”

Erik shook her head. “Such poor manners for a nobleman. Miss Daaé is here of her own free will. If you wish her return, she is the one to speak with.” He returned to his seat, seemingly disinterested in the proceedings.

“What are you doing here, Raoul?” she asked.

“To free you from the beast, of course! Come home. I am sorry for our argument.”

“He is not a beast!” she protested. “I do not belong in your world, Raoul. What would I do as a countess? Music is my life, but a lady is not allowed such pursuits.”

Raoul rounded on Erik. “What have you done to her?!”

“I?” Erik asked. “I have done nothing. Indeed, I tried a great deal to dissuade her, but she seems determined. She chose to come to me, Monsieur le Vicomte.”

“The police are looking for you,” he threatened. “Release her and I will not tell them where to find you.”

“I already said I am not responsible for her decision. As for your ability to inform the police of my location, I sealed the entrance you used. They will be unable to find it.”

“How?!” he demanded. “You never left!”

“All things in my realm are controlled from this room, Monsieur. If I decide it is to be sealed it shall be, and it takes only a moment to do so. I will, of course, escort you from my domain if you so desire, but there will be no returning that way. Now, perhaps you should speak with Christine rather than bellowing at me for things I did not do.”

Raoul growled but faced Christine again. “Come home, darling. Surely you cannot want to stay here.”

“Raoul, I already told you no. Why do you never heed what I say? I told you from the beginning that I could not leave Erik, but you don’t seem to hear it!”

“What sort of lies have you been filling her mind with, you monster!” the vicomte snapped, drawing his sword. “Come out and face me like a man!”

Erik rolled his eyes and flipped another lever. The ground beneath Raoul’s feet fell away, and he had to drop his sword in order to tread water and avoid drowning. “Listen to me and listen well, for I am in no mood to continue this game: Christine made a decision and would not listen when I attempted to convince her otherwise. Now, I have no wish to allow your continued existence, but she would be unhappy if I killed you. I suggest you leave before what little patience I have wears thin and I forget that.”

“Christine, darling, surely you cannot want to live with this for the rest of your life!” Raoul pleaded. 

She shook her head. “You never understood, did you? I tried telling you, but you don’t care. I made this choice a long time ago, but you persuaded me to change my mind. As a result, I betrayed the only person who was with me after my father died. I am making amends in hopes of regaining what I lost. Go home, Raoul. I am staying here.”

“What has that monster done to you?!”

“Stop calling him that! He didn’t do anything. He wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Erik drawled, temper easing as drink and medicine began to dull his pain. “Had this been my idea, rest assured she would not be cognizant enough to speak with you. I know how to hold Christine without force.”

“She got away before,” Raoul snorted. “You are not as powerful as you believe.”

“You might recall it was I who permitted your exit after our last encounter. Had I chosen to press, she would not have resisted. I have drawn her to me without effort many times before.”

“I love her! Is that not enough?”

“Not if she does not love you in return. Though in truth, I do not believe you love her. When a man truly loves a woman, he does not offer her up as bait to capture a rival.”

“You know nothing about us!” Raoul shouted. 

“He knows what I told him,” Christine interjected. “I don’t love you that way, Raoul. You are my friend, not the man I want to marry. Please, can’t you accept that?”

“And what about the next time he terrifies you, threatens someone you care about? He’s more like a beast than a man, always killing indiscriminately!”

“That’s not true,” Erik smirked. “I don’t kill indiscriminately. Only when merited.”

“Christine, you ran from him in terror. You begged me to protect you.”

“I was caught off guard. Yes, it was terrible, but it was never Erik who frightened me. It had just been so sudden. He would never hurt me.”

“What about when he kidnapped you from the stage? Do you mean to tell me you were not scared then?”

“I was scared of performing in the first place! I never wanted him to be caught or hurt!” Christine shouted. “You never listen to me!”

Erik rose and placed a hand on her shoulder. “As you can see, monsieur, she has made her decision. Would you like me to escort you out, or will you be able to find your own way?”

Raoul finally managed to find a solid place to stand, leaning against the iron bars. “You’re manipulating her,” he accused. “She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”

“I assure you, Monsieur le Vicomte, she is in complete command of her faculties. The difference would be quite clear if I were truly behind her choice.”

“Go home, Raoul,” Christine said tiredly. “I’m staying here.”

Erik faced her and noticed the exhaustion in her eyes. “Get some sleep. I will see to it that he makes it out of here safely.”

She nodded and made her way to her room. “Thank you, Erik. Good-bye, Raoul.”

Erik coiled one of his lassos and hung it at his side before facing the other man. “Come, I will guide you back to the surface.”

“Why should I trust you?” 

“I promised Christine that this will be her choice. She wants you to return to your home, so I am guiding you from mine. I will even go so far as to swear that as long as you do not attempt me harm I will do the same.”

“Then why that?” he asked, gesturing at the weapon. 

“As you say, the police are looking for me. It would be foolish to venture outside these walls unprepared, and I do not trust you either,” Erik said easily. 

“You wanted her to stay here all along.”

“Of course.” Erik began untying the small boat. “I made that clear for some time, but I left it up to her. She chose to come here – I did not force the issue.”

“Will I ever see her again?”

“That I do not know. She is not a prisoner, but she may choose not to return to the world above. Are you willing to swear you will do me no injury as I guide you, or shall I leave you out there to rot?”

Christine reappeared in the entryway. “You are still here?”

“What’s wrong?” Erik asked. 

“I feel strangely restless,” she admitted. “Can I come with you?”

“The boat only has room for two,” Erik warned. “There are other ways, but they are long and dark. You would be more comfortable here.”

She shook her head. “I want to come. Please, I need to make sure.”

“Very well.” He raised the portcullis, letting Raoul into the house. “The other ways are all through here.”

Raoul waded in as Erik sent Christine to find something warmer to wear. She returned wrapped in a large cloak and passed a second to him. He handed it to the dripping vicomte. “The passages are cold, monsieur, and you are soaked.”

“No thanks to you.”

Erik shrugged. “You went where you should not. I am not responsible for that. A wise man does not enter my realm unguided.”

“Why are you being so nice?” he asked suspiciously. 

“Whether you believe it or not, I am not as horrible as you seem to think.”

Erik returned to the edge of the lake to retie the boat before they set off. Christine looked at Raoul helplessly as she took a seat, trying to make him understand. He just watched as the Phantom moved silently around his abode. 

She sighed and looked away, unsure of what to do to repair their friendship. She heard him shout and glanced up – directly at the muzzle of a pistol. 

Erik faced, him, and his fingers went automatically to his lasso. “Do not harm her.”

Raoul dragged Christine to her feet and shifted so the pistol was aimed at Erik instead. “Christine will come with me, or I will kill you where you stand and rid the world of a monster.”

“This scene seems eerily familiar,” Erik snarled as he lifted his hands. “Was it not I who threatened your life to get her to stay? Now you threaten mine to force her to leave.”

“No, Raoul!” she cried, tugging at her arm. “No. Leave him alone. He hasn’t done anything to deserve this. I made the decision, not him!”

“Then change it!” he challenged. “Come back with me or I shoot.”

“How can you make me choose again?” she demanded, tears forming in her eyes. “I don’t want either of you hurt! Let me go! He spared you; how can you try to kill him?!”

“He is a monster that should have been destroyed a long time ago!” Raoul growled. “Now, are you coming, or do I kill him?”

“No, no, I can’t…” 

“It seems she does not care for your life as much as she does for mine,” he gloated as he watched his rival. “I guess this is your end.”

He began to pull the trigger but Christine managed to jolt the gun with her shoulder, making him miss. Erik was moving in a flash, the Punjab lasso slicing through the air as Christine cried out in pain.

The bullet had ricocheted off the stone ceiling and hit her, and blood was oozing from the wound in her side. Erik’s glare intensified as he pulled the pistol from the other man’s hand and dashed to her side. 

He shoved the heavy cloak away to assess the damage as Raoul trembled in shock. “I never meant to hurt her…”

“Then you should have listened!” Erik bellowed. “Instead you refused to hear what she said, and now she is injured because of your idiocy. Leave now, or I will kill you and nothing will make me regret it.” He reached for the chest of medicines as he pressed a thick pad against the wound to slow the bleeding. 

Raoul turned and fled, thrashing through the waters. Erik watched his progress before activating another lever, sealing the opening and reopening the entrance the vicomte had used. He would close it once he was gone. 

“Are you all right?” he asked. 

She shuddered against his hands. “It hurts…”

He nodded. “It is a sensitive area, but the bleeding is slowing and the bullet missed anything vital. It just grazed you.” He tore the fabric of the gown so he could work more easily and threaded a needle after holding it over one of the nearby candles. “This will be unpleasant, but I need to close this before you lose any more blood.”

He worked as fast as he could, ignoring her cries. Once finished, he poured alcohol over the stitches to prevent infection. “Are you done?” she whispered.

“Yes, that is all I can do beside bandaging it, but you will have to undress for that. I imagine you want privacy.” He laid her on her bed before setting the supplies on a table. “I can help you if you want, but if you would rather I not I will prepare something to eat.”

“Can you just unbutton the gown?” she asked quietly. “I can handle it from there.”

He rose to collect a long shift from a nearby bureau before gesturing for her to turn. He deftly undid the tiny fastenings just enough for her to remove the gown and left, knowing she would be able to handle the rest – the wound was not so inconveniently placed as to make it difficult for her to bandage it herself. 

He was preparing a spiced beef broth when she emerged, her chemise free of blood. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that dressing had not pulled the stitches. She had also found a chamber robe to put over the top against the chill of the caverns. 

“You will not go after Raoul, will you?”

He frowned as he passed her a cup of the broth. “I should. His foolishness could have gotten you killed.”

“He didn’t mean to,” she murmured as she took a sip. “He just never understood.”

Erik closed his eyes and took several deep breathes, trying to settle his temper. “If you do not want me to, I will not hurt him,” he said finally. “Regardless of how much he deserves it.”

“Thank you,” she sighed. “I am sorry he tried to kill you. I thought he would listen.”

He shook his head. “It was not for myself that I was worried.”

She set the mug aside with a yawn. “I’m so tired…”

“Sleep is the best medicine for such an injury.”

She nodded as she began to return to the bed. “Can you play until I fell asleep?”

He nearly denied her request automatically, but changed his mind. He could feel the urge for music welling up in him. “What would you like to hear?”

“That song you sang when I came here the first time,” she requested. 

“‘Music of the Night’,” he told her before carrying her to bed when she continued to stand in the doorway.

“Yes, that. Can you sing it again? It was beautiful.” Her eyes were already half-closed, and it was clearly taking effort for her to remain awake. 

“I will,” he promised. “Now get some rest.” He took his seat at the organ and began the opening notes, letting the music flow freely once more. “Welcome back,” he murmured before he sang.


End file.
